The Ministry of the Environment is making available €50 million from its budget over the next four years to finance recovery, prevention and damage minimization (“loss and damage”) caused by the climate crisis – especially in the most vulnerable countries. “We are facing a global challenge that we can only overcome together,” Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) said in a broadcast.
The topic of “Loss and Damage” is also at the center of this year’s COP27 in Egypt. The central question in the deliberations of the nearly 200 states is whether – and how – rich countries should pay compensation to the states that are particularly hard hit by the effects of climate change.
However, the Ministry of the Environment does not want to wait for these processes, which can sometimes take very long, and wants the money to flow into existing structures. “Austria takes responsibility and becomes a pioneer in international climate finance,” said Gewessler.
Extra money comes from reserves
For example, some of these funds can be used for the so-called “Santiago Technical Support Network for Losses and Damages” and the CREWS (Climate Risk & Early Warning Systems) mechanism, which provides early warning systems for particularly vulnerable countries, can also be supported. . “The basis for the more detailed allocation of the Ministry of Climate Protection’s funds is the results of the COP27 on the one hand and those of the ‘Glasgow Dialogue’, which was launched at COP26 on the other hand,” it said. .
In addition, the Ministry of Climate Protection is making another ten million euros available this year from its own reserves for international climate financing. Five million of these will go to the “Adaptation Fund”, which provides financial support to countries in the South in adapting to the negative effects of climate change. Substantial contributions to the Adaptation Fund are also planned for the coming years.
Financial aid “essential”
“The climate crisis has already destroyed the livelihoods of millions of people. Funding for climate damage and losses is urgently needed now. It is all the more an important signal from the Minister of Climate Protection Gewessler to recognize the importance of this financial aid and to allocate money for it himself,” Greenpeace said in a response. A separate financial pool should be established in Egypt for the people who are already massively suffering from the climate crisis.
“The promised EUR 50 million for ‘losses and damage’ are an important first step towards greater climate justice,” the WWF also responded positively. During the negotiations at COP27, the Austrian government must now ensure that a corresponding “loss and damage” fund is created as soon as possible.
Source: Krone
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